©Salle des Jésuites - Valenciennes|©Claude Waeghemacker

A visit to the Jesuit library One of the finest examples of an 18th-century library in France!

This is one of the places you absolutely must see when discovering Valenciennes. The painted decor of this authentic 18th-century Jesuit library is guaranteed to wow! A heritage that’s accessible to all, as you can visit the site on your own or on free guided tours on Saturdays.

Self-guided tours: access on request on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2pm to 6pm, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm, and on Saturdays from 10am to 6pm.

Free guided tours: Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., no reservation required.

Getting there

The Jesuit Hall A sumptuous study library

How fortunate! Valenciennes boasts one of the few libraries dating from before the French Revolution, and is renowned for having remained unchanged since its creation. The richness of its pictorial decorations, the harmony of works and colors, have always been an invitation to study.

Just imagine! 12 paintings representing 36 Jesuit scholars and pedagogues. A veritable “pictorial catalog” indicating where to find the books according to the specialties of the figures depicted: theology, mathematics, physics…

But the best is yet to come… Two large paintings at either end of the room testify to the Jesuits’ desire to unify classical and Christian cultures.

It’s impossible not to stand in awe of the masterly works of Lille-based painter Bernard-Joseph Wamps.

Above the large doorway, he drew his inspiration from Raphael’ sSchool of Athensto pay homage to the scientists and philosophers of antiquity.

Above the small door, you can watch the Dispute of the Blessed Sacrament, representing the Doctors and Fathers of the Church.

Extraordinary collections from Valenciennes

As soon as the college was founded, the Jesuits set up a library. By 1765, when they left, the library contained almost 6,000 books, primarily intended for study and teaching.

Today, the Valenciennes collections hold over 50,000 antiquarian books, including 2,000 manuscripts. They also include newspapers dating back to 1788, several thousand prints, drawings, photographs, postcards and even lace!

The media library also holds richly decorated manuscripts, such as the three Lives of Saint Amand (11th and 12th centuries), a figurative Apocalypse (early 9th century), a 1572 portolan that belonged to the Princes of Croy, as well as contemporary works.

Did you know?

With the books confiscated during the French Revolution, the library was enriched with its most precious treasures. The Cantilène de sainte Eulalie, dating from the late 9th century, is the first surviving poem in French.

A Jesuit school transformed into a modern media library

At the end of the 16th century, concerned about the rise of Protestantism, the town of Valenciennes encouraged the establishment of the Society of Jesus, which founded a college here in 1591.

The Jesuit fathers erected a building to house the college, in which they created a library.

In 1765, the Jesuits were expelled from France. The city took over the college, transforming it into a lycée.

During the Revolution, the library was enriched by books confiscated from nobles and abbeys. Now a municipal library, it opened to the public in 1801 and began lending books in 1840.

After the high school closed in 1912, the library expanded and, in 1938, created a service for children, “L’Heure joyeuse”.

In 1994, the media library was enlarged with the construction of the glass roof.

Designated a “Reference Digital Library”, the spaces will be refurbished in 2019 to offer all the services of a 21st-century media library.

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History and architecture of buildings

On the street side, the media library’s facade stands out between the former Jesuit chapel, now transformed into an auditorium, and the Valenciennes conservatory.

The Regency-style façade is adorned with flowered bull’s-eye windows. A large porch leads to an inner courtyard, now covered by the glass roof.

On the sides, the buildings, built at different times, have retained a real harmony. Construction of the oldest wing by the Jesuits was completed around 1614, the date on which a plaque was affixed to it.

Following damage caused by war and flooding, the street-side wing was built between 1735 and 1751 by Douais architect Michel-François Playez.

After a fire in 1908, a new wing was built in 1933. Finally, in 1994, the media library’s spaces were unified and enlarged by the construction of the glass roof.

Exhibitions and events

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